Dinh Vu Industrial Zone marks 20-year milestone

And, as Frank Wouters, general director of Dinh Vu Industrial Zone JSC, shares with VIR’s Son Trang, this 20-year-old initiative will continue to grow as quickly as the Vietnamese industry does.

As one of the creators of a foundation for industry on the Dinh Vu Peninsula, what do you think about the development of DVIZ/Deep C in the last 20 years?

These 20 years have been a journey of efforts, perseverance, and success. At the time that we first initiated the concept of DVIZ/Deep C, very few people believed in our vision. The zone at that time was full of swamps and fish farms. However, the area was envisaged as a strategic location with convenient transportation links.

With the enormous effort, determination, and expertise of the whole team, and strong support from the city of Haiphong, a multi-industry industrial zone with a reliable utilities system was created.

We were confident in our concept of land development. We have also witnessed the advantages that the zone can bring to our tenants. Investors can enjoy the convenience of transportation by sea, by road, by rail, and by air. The Dinh Vu/Deep C Industrial Zones now rank among the best industrial zones in the north of Vietnam. We have attracted 70-plus projects from different countries with a total investment of over $3 billion.

What is your ambition in Vietnam?

Thanks to the success of the first Dinh Vu Industrial Zone [Deep C I], we have rapidly expanded to the south of Dinh Vu [Deep C II] and Cat Hai Island [Deep C III], next to Lach Huyen Deep Sea Port, adding another 1,000 hectares of industrial land to Haiphong.

The group commits to a long-term vision in Vietnam. We are not only developing industrial zones in one city, but also expanding to 1,500-plus hectares in the neighbouring province of Quang Ninh. Together, all these developments will form a Deep C Industrial Cluster of over 3,000ha in northern Vietnam.

We have also started investing in green energy for the sustainable development of Vietnam. These include projects in wind-powered water desalination in the Mekong Delta and Haiphong, pioneering solar energy in northern Vietnam, and waste-to-energy modules in Dinh Vu and Uong Bi. We are also looking at developing inland waterway ports in Hanoi and the northern province of Hai Duong that divert truck deliveries to a safer and more ecological route by sea.

Filip Martens, our former general director and chairman, would be very glad that his big dream is now coming through in Vietnam. Filip Martens and Marc Stordiau have been fighting since the 1990s to push the concept of electricity-producing windmills in Europe and were actually the pioneers of European wind power generation. Their common project C Power is a kind of twin brother of Deep C - and soon, Deep C Power will come to Haiphong. 

From your success, would you like to send any message to international investors?

Vietnam has a lot of potential for investors and a lot more room for new development. That said, doing business in Vietnam is different and certain adaptations are needed. However, I see great passion and the will to work hard in the Vietnamese people, which will allow the country and its investment projects to go very far.